Everyone was still sick- but at that point where they’re too sick to go out or do anything big, but not sick enough to do nothing. So really we had 2 not at all tired children who were sick. Fun times!

I pulled Linda’s cat quilt off the frame. Isn’t it cute? I ended up using a light purple thread (to match the inside border) and the design “Pretty Paisley”. The backing is flannel so it’s sure to be cozy snuggly!

Then I loaded Jan’s Tie quilt on the frame. These are from a family member and she carefully took apart the ties and added a lightweight interfacing before piecing the hearts. For batting she chose Pellon Polyester which has a little loft and is very lightweight. The thread is a charcoal- just a shade lighter than black- this blended well with the various ties. For the quilting design she told me to choose something swirly, so I went with “Jilly,” one of my favorite designs.

Isn’t it wonderful?

What a great way to repurpose the ties!

In the afternoon after all my work was done, the girls got to finally begin our December advent calendar.

I picked this cute mitten calendar up at Target & filled each one with with an activity for the day. December 1 said “make salt dough ornaments”. The girls had a wonderful time assembling the ingredients and mixing it up. Megan in particular could almost do the entire project herself! (4 y’all! It’s an amazing age!) giving us more energy to help Emily. Of course after starting the project I remembered the only cookie cutters we had were the woodland creatures from IKEA, but the girls didn’t mind. And really they’re so freaking cute!

They baked up in no time & later we’ll paint them & I’ll dig around the studio for ribbon.

Here’s the recipe if anyone else is feeling adventurous!

4 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

Mix together, knead until smooth, roll out to about 1/4” thick, cut with cookie cutters, place on baking sheet, bake at 250 degrees for 1-2 hours until firm.

Well yesterday started off with a bang- my husband and oldest were sick, and the little one (who is teething) decided it was the day to begin potty training. Needless to say no quilting was accomplished.

During the witching hour when the little one was going stir crazy, I took her out for a walk around the neighborhood for some fresh air. We’ve lived in this house for 4 years now (how is that possible!?!) and my breathe is still taken away by the lovely trees.

After the girls finally went to bed I started a new scarf. I don’t have a good mindless carry around project & I’ve been itching for an easy crochet project.

I found this pattern, JoAnn’s Scarf, in a book from my library, Crochet One-Skein Wonders. I picked up the yarn at Yarn Cloud, a new-to-me local yarn shop. So far it’s exactly what I wanted- I quickly internalized the pattern & I’m able to just crochet. I made it a little wider than the pattern calls for. My plan is to crochet until the yarn runs out, sew the ends together and make a cowl. I recently discovered I prefer cowls to scarves for their snuggliness & stay puttedness.

It looks like a dreary, rainy weekend in northern Virginia, so I’ll be here crocheting, potty training & taking care of sick folks. Hopefully some time at the long arm will happen too!

I decided at the last minute to jump in & participate in Bonnie Hunter’s annual mystery quilt. The last few years have revealed striking quilts that made me wish I had joined in (or at least downloaded the files), even though it wasn’t practical for me.

I’m not sure it’s practical this year but it seems fun & Fort Worth Fabric Studio had “stash builder kits” which came with a variety of fabrics in Bonnie’s color way that required you to only add a few fabrics from your stash. Bonnie gives out the color way around Halloween and references paint chips from Lowe’s or a quilters color tool for guidance. Lowe’s is not convenient to me & surprisingly enough I don’t own the color tool, so the kit seemed like an easy way for me to realistically participate. I did need to buy some more fabrics. This year calls for quite a bit of orange that I don’t have in my stash, so I rounded out the kit after a visit to Fabric Place Basement (one of my new favorite local fabric stores).

Clue #1 was revealed on Black Friday & consisted of making a boatload of 4-patches in red & neutral fabrics. Neutrals are always difficult for me to choose & I end up choosing all white on white or all cream or all gray- it’s difficult for me to mix them, even though I know the mixing adds more texture and interest in a quilt. This made me grateful for the kit as they chose several neutrals I never would have & thus helped me stretch. The 4-patches went quickly, despite there being so many. I followed Bonnie’s directions to the letter & learned the new technique of cutting the 4-patches together, definitely a technique I will carry over to other projects.

As 2017 wraps up I wanted to send a “Thank you” note to everyone. It’s been a hard year & an amazing year. Megan is now three and attends preschool while Emily has turned one and has started walking!

Thank you for working with me as I adjusted to life as a mom of two kids.

Thank you for continuing to trust me with your quilts.

Thank you for your patience as I needed flexibility when Megan cut her chin in February & then later broke her leg in September.

Thank you for your feedback on designs. I’m always listening to what new styles or themes that interest my customers.

Looking ahead (now that I’m out of the deep forest of the 1st year), I’m tossing around the idea of doing some Facebook Live updates, so be sure to “like” Ormond Beach Quilts. I also plan to release a few more quilting patterns now that I *think* I have some time in the evenings!

I look forward to 2018 with open arms. I’m eager to continue longarming for you & watch my girls grow.

Thank you for being with me on this journey. Let’s go forward together & finish quilts!

It’s been an amazing adventure so far! Some of her favorite things include:
– nursing
– nursing
– sleeping only while being held
– dreaming about nursing while sleeping 😉

We’re incredibly blessed everything has gone so well! So well in fact that I’ll be accepting quilts again beginning Friday, November 18th. If you have a quilt you’d like done in time for the holidays, please reach out to me as soon as possible so I can put you on my schedule!

Things are going along merrily over here at Ormond Beach Quilts. Here are some big items to take note of:

I’ve added an Intelliquilter computerized quilting system to my APQS longarm. This was a large decision to make but one I feel is best for my business & family. For the past 4 years I’ve specialized in hand-guided edge-to-edge & custom quilting & I loved every minute of it! I feel that this is the right time to transition to computerized edge-to-edge quilting as our little family of three will soon be four!

Yes! You did read that correctly! We are expecting our second daughter in November! We are over the moon with excitement!

So, what about the business then? Will I still be longarming? YES! The last day I will accept quilts will be on October 1. I will begin working again on Thanksgiving so I will still be able to help you finish your holiday quilted gifts!

You may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging as much & I’m not sure how much I will be doing in the future, HOWEVER, I am active on posting to my Facebook & Instagram pages, so I encourage you to follow me on those sites for the latest updates, pictures of quilts & of course, baby pictures!

I do understand not everyone is on social media, so I’m also starting a newsletter. If you’d like to be added, please fill out the form below or the form on the sidebar of my website:

Here’s another Quilt of Valor for you! (and before you say anything, yes, I’ve been quilting lots of Quilts of Valor lately- July must have inspired everyone to support such a wonderful program!)

This was another top I received from Anna. You may remember her quilts here & here.

It’s another beautiful scrap quilt & because I noticed there were quite a few floral fabrics, I was inspired to use my Ambrosia quilting design.

Since becoming involved with Quilts of Valor, I’ve started to notice them everywhere. Which makes me wonder, have you make a Quilt of Valor? Would you be interested if I designed a free pattern to support their cause?